Uganda's chief opposition leader cleared of rape charge

Uganda's high court cleared the main opposition leader Kizza Besigye of rape charges yesterday, saying the prosecution failed "dismally" to prove its case.

Mr Besigye, who heads the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), was being tried for allegedly raping a family friend in 1997. The 49-year-old was charged in November, a fortnight after returning from four years of exile in South Africa to run for president.

His lawyers had argued that the government fabricated the charge in an attempt to keep him from challenging President Yoweri Museveni in February's elections, in which he was considered the most formidable challenger.

Judge John Bosco Katutsi told the court the investigations had been "crude and amateurish, betraying the motives behind the case". He added: "I find that the prosecution dismally failed to prove its case against the accused and he is accordingly set free."

The judge highlighted what he called "major conflicts" in the testimony of the alleged victim, Joanita Kyakuwa, who did not know the date and month of the alleged crime and by her own admission returned to Mr Besigye's home several times after the alleged attack to have sex with him. "I invite field activists to tell us if these are the actions of a girl who has been raped," the judge said to cheers from party supporters in the high court.

After the ruling, Mr Besigye said: "I am very happy that another case of abuse of the legal process has been successfully disposed of ... I intend to seek legal redress for the malicious prosecution and the attendant damage that I have suffered.

"This case has had a serious adverse effect on me personally, my family and the Forum for Democratic Change as a whole ... As I believe it was intended, it compromised my ability to campaign in the just-concluded elections. Voters were constantly reminded that I was a suspected rapist and with the prospect of conviction on a capital offense."

Mr Besigye appeared in court 25 times during the campaign period, and EU election observers agreed that his campaign was hampered by the court cases. In January the constitutional court ruled that the military could not try him on a separate case of terrorism and illegal possession of firearms, but he still faces treason charges. He denies all the charges.

Mr Museveni won the election with 59% of the vote. Mr Besigye's FDC won 37%. In a separate case yesterday, FDC lawyers were challenging the election results in the supreme court.

President Museveni, who has held power for more than 20 years, was hailed as a modernising leader when he agreed to time limits on presidential terms and economic liberalisation a decade ago. But in recent years international donors have reduced aid and criticised his moves to consolidate power and quash dissent.